Articles

Assembling WoB Spectral Omnifighters

I recently picked up the three miniatures for the three Word of Blake Spectral Omnifighters. When I sat down to assemble the models, I realized that they have a large number of pieces and that telling the difference between the various fins and wings could be challenging, especially for someone new to assembling and painting minis. In fact, it seemed like there were way more pieces than should reasonably fit on an aerospace fighter.

Use of Pigments

To players and hobbyists, the art of painting miniatures can feel overwhelming. There are so many choices to make - choosing the mini, the scheme, paint brands, paint brushes, and techniques. It seems never-ending, like there’s another whole world that you don’t understand each time you try a new project. Even once you have started to grow in the hobby and have some basics under your belt, the more advanced techniques can feel like an insurmountable wall. My aim here is to break down one of those walls and take some of the fear out of trying something new. My subject today is applying dry pigments.

Assembling the Tonbo

Assembling the Tonbo

As part of the CSO Team's effort to support Iron Wind Metals website updates, I recently received a copy of the Tonbo Superheavy Transport VTOL, as described in Catalyst Game Labs' Technical Readout 3085, pages 52-53.

I opened the baggie to find...

Assembling the Tonbo

As part of the CSO Team's effort to support Iron Wind Metals website updates, I recently received a copy of the Tonbo Superheavy Transport VTOL, as described in Catalyst Game Labs' Technical Readout 3085, pages 52-53.

I opened the baggie to find...

Event Report: Scale Model Challenge 2012

The Scale Model Challenge is an annual convention organized by the Scale Model Factory, a hobby club for scale model enthusiasts. In 2012 the event took place on October, 14th in the NH Convention Centre Koningshof in Veldhoven near Eindhoven in the Netherlands.

How-To: Weathering

Battletech Miniature WeatheringFor me weathering is something that truly makes a Mech ‘come alive’. I just love it as it can add so much detail and character to a miniature. A couple of times I have tried to paint a clean Mech with a shiny ‘out-of-the-factory’ scheme, but I can’t. I always come back and add at least a little bit of wear and tear. Hey, even with Jamie Wolf as the pilot the paint scheme will suffer scratches and wear around the feet just moving out of the factory.

Battletech Miniature Weathering

For me weathering is something that truly makes a Mech ‘come alive’. I just love it as it can add so much detail and character to a miniature. A couple of times I have tried to paint a clean Mech with a shiny ‘out-of-the-factory’ scheme, but I can’t. I always come back and add at least a little bit of wear and tear. Hey, even with Jamie Wolf as the pilot the paint scheme will suffer scratches and wear around the feet just moving out of the factory.

2011 BattleCorps Painting Competition

2011 BattleCorps Painting Competition

Scenes from the Legends

2011 BattleCorps Painting Competition

Scenes from the Legends

Painting a Clan Wolverine Scheme

A writeup on painting a Clan Wolverine Scheme

Painting a Clan Wolverine Scheme

A writeup on painting a Clan Wolverine Scheme

Painting a Not-Named Clan Mech

Painting a Not-Named Mech

Long awaited for practically decades, the paint schemes of the Not-Named Clan’s various units will soon be revealed.

Painting a Not-Named Clan Mech

Long awaited for practically decades, the paint schemes of the Not-Named Clan’s various units will soon be revealed.

IIkasur Shogunate Walkthrough

A tutorial for painting a Shogunate scheme.

Small Terrain Boards

A tutorial on how to make small terrain boards for mini photography

Paints, Lights, Cameras and Colors

An overview of various techniques that you can use to improve each of the key areas mentioned.

Painting a Clan Coyote scheme

A brief writeup on how to paint a Clan Coyote scheme.

Painting a Clan Jade Falcon scheme

A brief writeup on how to paint a Clan Jade Falcon scheme.

Hastur! Hastur! Hastur!

A Painting Tutorial for Operation Klondike

The colors of the Nation of Hastur are yellow ochre and black, the latter usually being added as wavy lines. Many warriors place their interpretation of the Yellow Sign in a prominent place on their machines. The Yellow Sign consists of an irregular three-armed cross, with no two exactly alike.

GenCon 2010 Painting Contest Winners

Labors of Love: GenCon 2010 Machines of War painting contest winners

Painting a Clan Hell's Horses scheme

A brief writeup on how to paint a Clan Hell's Horses scheme.

Painting a Clan Nova Cat Scheme

A brief writeup on how to paint a Clan Nova Cat scheme.

Painting a Clan Wolf Scheme

A brief writeup on how to paint a Clan Wolf scheme.

Painting a Clan Blood Spirit Scheme

A brief writeup on how to paint the Clan Blood Spirit Alpha Galaxy scheme.

Painting a Clan Goliath Scorpion Scheme

A brief writeup on how to paint the Clan Goliath Scorpion Tau Galaxy scheme.

Painting a Clan Fire Mandrill Scheme

A brief writeup on how to paint the Clan Fire Mandrill Kindra Kline scheme.

Painting a Clan Burrock Scheme

A brief writeup on how to paint a Clan Burrock scheme.

Painting a Clan Star Adder Scheme

A brief writeup on how to paint a Clan Star Adder scheme.

Painting a Clan Ice Hellion scheme

A brief writeup on how to paint a Clan Ice Hellion scheme.

Painting a Clan Steel Viper Scheme

A brief writeup on how to paint a Clan Steel Viper scheme.

Painting a Clan Mongoose Scheme

A brief writeup on how to paint a Clan Mongoose scheme.

Painting a Clan Ghost Bear Scheme

A brief writeup on how to paint a Clan Ghost Bear scheme.

Painting a Clan Smoke Jaguar Scheme

A brief writeup on how to paint a Smoke Jaguar scheme.

How-To: Build the GRM-01A2 Garm

FoxBat's simple steps for modding the GRM-01A2 Garm

How-To: Build the D9-G10 Duan Gung

Foxbat's simple steps to making a D9-G10 variant of the Duan Gung.

How-To: Build an Ursus 2

00Dawg's Guide to Making the Ursus 2

How-To: Build the BGS-7S Barghest

Psycho takes you through his build of the BGS-7S Barghest.

CSO Takes a Look at the New Plastic Thor and Loki

CSO artists review the new plastic Thor and Loki miniatures.

CSO Ups the Stakes at GenCon 2009

CSO Artists take 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in the Machines of War category of the painting contest!

CSO Artist Brings Home GenCon Accolades

CamoSpecs Online is proud to report that our own B1BFlyer received not one, but two awards in the GenCon 2008 Miniatures Painting Competition. When asked about his achievement, B1BFlyer had this to say:

Custom 'Mech <i>Pulverizer</i> Build

Welcome to this behind-the-scenes look at kitbashing the Pulverizer ‘Mech for the CSO Diorama at GenCon Indy 2008. I will start off by saying it was an honour and privilege to be entrusted with the task of bringing an as yet unknown ‘Mech design to life. Thanks go out to Ray and David (along with the other PTB, and Brent Evans) for making it possible.

How-To: Paint Royal Black Watch Tartan

Notable units throughout the Innersphere use various patterns of tartan; arguably, the most prominent of these units include the Star League Royal Black Watch and the Northwind Highlanders. For this tutorial, we will examine techniques for painting the tartan of the Black Watch, also known as the Government set. The techniques demonstrated in this tutorial are applicable to planning and painting tartans of other patterns in addition to that of the Black Watch.

How-To: Brushes Are Important

In this article you will dive into the wonderful world of brushes. Please do not expect to come out an all knowing guru after reading this, it is just a basic primer on types of brushes and their care. What I do hope you get from it is the fact that your brush selection and care are as important as what paints you use.

How-To: Painting Scales

Conceptually, painting scales isn’t all that different from any other kind of layering; in fact, it’s very similar to jewelling. Basically, you’re just building up a range of one color—green, for example—from dark to light, but in a pattern. There are several ways of doing it, but I personally consider the following to be the best balance between detail and expedience. There are lots of patterns you can use; round, irregular, “shield” shaped, diamonds, etc. It’s a matter of taste. For our example, we’re going to go with green shield-shaped scales. I’ve put a simple image in with each step to make it a bit easier to follow along.

How-To: Cockpit Jeweling

Well, it's been something like three years ago when I first said I'd do up a tutorial on how to “jewel” your 'Mech's cockpits. I've graduated twice from two different colleges, gotten married, gotten into two new games, painted a bunch of miniatures, and generally done everything you do in three plus years of time since then. But hey, better late than never right? So without further ado, here's my jeweling tutorial for cockpits (and indirectly, laser barrels).

Chalking Part #2

People have asked me quite often how I produced the muzzle burns and weathering on my minis. Well I used Chalk. Now one thing led to another and in these two video sections you will see where it led to when some one challenged me to paint an entire mini in chalk. So sit back and enjoy and look for future video feeds from your basic skills to some really out of the box stuff.

This Video continues the Chalking procedure up to the point of being ready to detailing the rest of the mech.

Chalking Part #1

People have asked me quite often how I produced the muzzle burns and weathering on my minis. Well I used chalk. Now one thing led to another and in these two video sections you will see where it led to when some one challenged me to paint an entire mini in chalk. So sit back and enjoy and look for future video feeds from your basic skills to some really out of the box stuff.

This video will cover the use of chalk as a base coat for you mini's From basic application to how to work the chalk to create a fade.

Priming and Washing a Mini

This Video will cover one way I prepare a mini for painting for the CSO site. Prep can be one of the most important steps and is a skill I am constantly improving on. You will also learn about the use of a wet pallet to extend the life of your paints and a few other fun tidbits. You will also get to see how even us CSO artist are only human.

Building A Large Terrain Board

Welcome, I have had numerous people ask me what techniques I use when I build the terrain that I use with my gaming group. So, when I took on my latest, greatest and LARGEST terrain project I decided to attempt to chronicle the experience so that other gamers out there who are interested in building their own terrain could see how it is that I do it and maybe gain some new ideas for themselves. Following is essentially a step-by-step description of how I have built a large 8' x 8' terrain board for use at GenCon 2003.

How-To: Mini Photography Part 3: Camera Setup

This articles discusses camera modes and setups for Mini Photography

How-To: Mini Photography Part 2: Lighting Setup

Article on how to set up lighting for mini photography.

How-To: Mini Photography Part 1: Backdrop

This articles discusses techniques for mini photography setup

How-To: Remove Mold Lines

Everyone's had them...The all too common and continuously critiqued mold lines. A great paint job can't cover them up, and as you'll see below, the worst casts and misalignments can really be a hassle if you don't know how to attack the problem.

How-To: MAD-5R/9S

Begin by preparing all parts for assembly. Cut them from the sprues, clean up mold lines with the exacto and needle files. Score all joints with the exacto knife. When finished, scrub the parts with the white vinegar and toothbrush.

How-To: Drybrush

This article discusses techniques that can be used to drybrush your miniatures.

How-To: Battle Armor

This article discusses techniques that can be used to paint Battle Armor miniatures.

How-To: Antennas

This article discusses techniques that can be used to add antennas to your BattleMech miniatures.